An off-duty Manchester police officer stopped a burglary in progress on the city's West Side on Wednesday.

Officer Mike Buckley was in Bob's Coins on Kelley Street when he noticed a suspicious-looking customer at the counter wearing a surgical mask. Buckley went back to his car for his service weapon, and then stopped the suspect, Ralph Blackey, 40, as he tried to get away.

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"Officer Buckley was able to order him at gunpoint to stop," Lt. Maureen Tessier said. "He ultimately complied with those commands and laid on the ground, and there were actually a couple of construction workers in the area who helped Buckley detain the man on the ground until uniformed officers arrived."

Manchester police said Blackey was armed with a knife and was also responsible for calling in a bomb threat to West High School earlier in the day.